Beautiful
by BananaJelly
Summary: When it comes to Drew Tanaka, there's more than meets the eye.
1. Chapter 1

"Stop crying."

Her voice cut like a knife. It certainly didn't help. If anything, it made Drew's tears fall harder.

"Oh my god, you're so pathetic. You wanna go home and run to mommy?"

_Don't listen don't listen don't listen don't listen. Don't listen don't listen don't -_

"You know, Drew, if you didn't look like such a fat, ugly pig maybe you would have friends here."

_shutup. shutup shutup shutup._ Drew's lips stayed sealed.

The taller girl rolled her eyes. "I swear, if you report this, you're fucking dead." Just like that, she was gone.

Drew sat alone and sobbing in the corner, her eyes swollen and red, her clothes stained with saltiness.

* * *

Her father wasn't home that day. It didn't surprise her.

Drew made her way to the bathroom, wiping furiously at her eyes. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. A tiny Japanese girl of fourteen years.

Small dark eyes, unassuming and plain. _Ugly._

Straight black hair lying limp on her shoulders. _Hideous._

Pale skin moist with tears._ Loser._

She averted her eyes, fighting the urge to break down, to collapse and fall until she was nothing, nothing, nothing.

No. The word echoed in her mind, loud and clear. She was surprised at herself. No. I will not cry. I will be beautiful.

Drew Tanaka swore to herself that she would never cry again.

* * *

Thinner, thinner, thinner. The gap between her legs wasn't big enough. Her stomach wasn't flat enough. She wasn't good enough.

Drew had been avoiding mirrors for nearly two months now. She knew what the other girls at school said while her back was turned: anorexic, as if the word was poison. They were wrong - it was beautiful, unlike Drew. And she wasn't skinny enough. Not yet.

Maybe I'll be perfect after this time, she thought as she leaned her head over the porcelain toilet seat.

* * *

Nobody had called her fat in a long time. Unhealthy, yes, but what did it matter? She'd made herself thin. She loved the way the word sounded.

She wondered why everyone still avoided her.

That night, Drew was lost in her thoughts. She was thin... but she was still ugly. She remembered the words from so long ago: _You know, Drew, if you didn't look like such a fat, ugly pig maybe you would have friends here._

A new wave of determination flooded over her. What was it going to take to be beautiful?

* * *

Foundation, brow pencil. Liquid liner, lash curler, mascara. Lipstick, lip gloss. So many pretty things, all deadly weapons in her arsenal. It's become a daily routine for her nowadays. Some girls call her fake, but Drew knows the truth.

She slips into the tiniest, barely-sufficient pair of shorts she can find, a papery shirt and a pair of heels that add inches to her petite height. Her black hair falls to her waist, expertly styled. Her eyes, thickly outlined with makeup, are fierce and angry. Her lips are pouty and pink.

Her new facade must have worked. She has more friends now.

That day at school, they corner a tiny, helpless girl with limp hair, sad eyes and pale skin. Drew joins in with the chants of her friends. _You're so ugly. What are you even doing here? Why don't you just do everyone a favor and go kill yourself?_ She feels bad, but what else can she do?

Besides, she can't help but feel happy.

She is beautiful.


	2. Chapter 2

The day Drew finds out she is a daughter of Aphrodite is the best and worst day of her life.

Obviously, she's thrilled. To find out that she's the child of the goddess of _beauty _and to receive her blessing... she's on cloud nine.

On the other hand, she's mortified. All the other children of Aphrodite are effortlessly beautiful, gorgeous without trying. On the surface, she fits in with them easily, another shallow little girl who's as self-absorbed as anyone would expect.

But Drew feels impossibly out of place. _How?_ She's spent her whole life getting to where she is now. And then she realizes - that's it. The other girls don't _need_ to try. They're whole, healthy, unbroken.

Drew is held together with duct tape and nails, holding up a mask she's spent years perfecting.

* * *

She learns Charmspeak from one of the older members of the cabin. A tall girl with flawless dark skin and cold eyes.

"Charmspeak is all about confidence and control, honey. You have to believe in yourself, and then you'll have the world at your feet." Her voice is silky smooth; soft and sweet and dripping with honey.

Drew nods vigorously, holding on to every word she says. Charmspeak sounds like a dream come true. To be so powerful that she has magic flowing in her very words... it's tantalizing.

It takes her weeks to get it right, but it's worth every minute. Because the first time that Drew charmspeaks someone into obeying her, she smiles - a _real __smile -_ for the first time that she can remember.

* * *

She hates Piper.

Innocent Piper. Naturally pretty Piper, who's stunning with messy hair and a plain t-shirt. Heroic Piper, who of course saves the day and gets the guy.

And then when she comes back, standing taller and straighter than before, she kicks Drew from her pedestal, and the worst part is? She can see the relief in the faces of each and every one of her cabinmates, glad to be free from her.

She doesn't understand. _Why? Why her, why not me? _It turns into a mantra, taunting her no matter how hard she tries to lock it away.

She's still trying to give herself an answer as she pulls her sleeves down over her bony wrists, hiding the fresh red lines on her arms.


End file.
